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What is this snow blower worth to you?

Saw this sitting out side a house. Guy said he is selling because he bought a John Deere tractor blower. This is one of the Cub Cadet 45" snow blowers. The guy said its 2 years old, but I will be honest, it looks brand new.

He said he bought it for $2,600, and wants $2,000 for it. I think he is full of it because I could buy a new one for $2,300 today. Also, even though it looks new, these things lose much of their value fast, don't they?

What is this thing really worth? And dont tell me its worth what I would pay.... what would u pay.

i wouldn't buy a snow blower that big, but if i did, i wouldn't be paying more then $1200-1500 for it, i look at it this way, no matter what, you are likely having to make two passes on a sidewalk, so why not go with a 24-26 inch snow blower, and a decent 24-36 inch snow blower can be picked up for $1000-$1500

Thanks for the reply buckwheat. The reason I am looking for something this big is because currently I have 6 smaller blowers for this year (which is all I have used in previous years). I have about double the work that I have had in any previous year and much of it requires hours of snow blowing. I am afraid of getting a storm that is dropping 3" per hour and by the time I get to the last stop having 12" of snow on the ground. Also this would be for sidewalks, but it would be used much more on driveways. I have always refused to plow or back drag driveways. Just cant get them clean like that.

First off make sure everything works as it should. Test it out for a while, not just a minute or two. Offer him $1800.00 if you think you really like how it works. I would say it's a great machine for your intended use.

Orginally, I felt this machine was too big too. However after running one for a couple hours, I really like it. It has the horsepower and at the same time it is balanced. The finger tip controls are hard to get used too but once you master it you can turn in its ownlength like a ztr. It has enough traction that you can put a peice of plywood on the front and use it like a plow for those wet snowstorms. It does eat a lot of gas and when you run out of it at the far end of the property it takes a strong man to manually start it. The chute deflector on the chute is troublesome. I never really encountered too much snow that it couldn't handle in 3rd gear. But when you have it in higher gears, the cutting edge seems to catch everything out there and sometimes stops you dead.

Orginally, I felt this machine was too big too. However after running one for a couple hours, I really like it. It has the horsepower and at the same time it is balanced. The finger tip controls are hard to get used too but once you master it you can turn in its ownlength like a ztr. It has enough traction that you can put a peice of plywood on the front and use it like a plow for those wet snowstorms. It does eat a lot of gas and when you run out of it at the far end of the property it takes a strong man to manually start it. The chute deflector on the chute is troublesome. I never really encountered too much snow that it couldn't handle in 3rd gear. But when you have it in higher gears, the cutting edge seems to catch everything out there and sometimes stops you dead.

I would probably be happy to pay up to 1500.

Click to expand...

Thanks - this is what I was looking for.

Question: How would something like this be on the smaller storms (2-3"). Does it slowly roll along like some of the other bigger (not this big) snow blowers, or does it actually allow you to clear it at a brisk walking speed, maybe even a slow run.. lol

but it would be used much more on driveways. I have always refused to plow or back drag driveways. Just cant get them clean like that.[/QUOTE]

So you are going to pull this beast off a truck at every driveway you do and snow blow it? Seems like a waste of time to me IMO. Why dont you get a back drag blade on your plow. They work great and same you a ton of time. I think that would be a good buy if you had a large condo association or apt complex with a lot of walks that size. Leave it on site chained up out of sight and run it there. Good luck if you buy it.

It seems that the faster you go with the machine the more it seems to find things to stick on such as cracks, grass edges, and bumps. High gear makes you walk fast but never makes you run. We just haven't encountered the situation yet that the engine and impellar bogged down forcing you to go slower. Customer supplied the blower since the walkway is on a busy road next to the DPW garage. You constantly are having to clear the walks because the plows are constantly windrowing the snow onto the walks. Snow can be as deep as 4 ft and have several large clumps of plowed ice in there too. Not once has this caused the blower to have a hard time.

Yes, MTD makes the unit and sells it as a Cub Cadet. So far it seems to be one of the better things that they build. It seems to be perfectly balanced and once you get used to the finger tip controls it is very responsive. I am assuming that it is a peerless transmission like the orginal scag walk behinds circa 1970's. It is so covered up that you can't tell. There is no throttle on it, so when you turn it on it is running full blast or you turn it off. It is a Briggs but quiet at full blast. The control for the deflector on the discharge chute is a cable that sticks and it really only has two positions. You can control the discharge manually but you have to take your figer off one of the steering controls. The discharge chute and impellar housing and impellar are plastic which signically cuts down on weight. At first I didn't think this was gonna work out. 50% of what we blow are these ice chunks from windrowing snow plows the size of softballs and larger. When these chunks hit the system it sounds like a machine gun and when a large chunk hits the deflector you get a large slap and the whole chute arches back a couple inches as it whips the chunks further out than where the snow is landing. I didn't think the plastic was going to hold up with all this flexing but after two years the unit looks brand new still. Sometimes when blowing mud and slushie stuff it overflows at the deflector plate and it jams the deflector plate on the back side on it. Also you get some static electricity charges on the chute if you touch it while it is running. The shear pins and the cotter pins for them are sold seperately which is unconvient for customers but good for MTD. It is a gas guzzler, probably around 2 gallon per hour. Also very hard to start manually. We have inverters in the trucks, so we can use the electric start in remote locations. Just remember to bring a 100 ft extension cord with you. It is far easier to remember to fill the unit all the time when you start

I wouldn't have ever considered to buy a unit so large. Getting it on and off the trucks is one thing. I think you need three strong guys to pick it up. And while all the walks on this site are 60 inches, the majority of walks that you encounter at residential sites is 36 so you will be hanging up on grass if the turf is higher than the walkway. And we haven't really had a 12 inch wet,wet, wet snow storm like they get on the east coast, so I would be interested to see if the unit could really handle a big nasty. Yes it is a nice unit but I don't see it as a universal player because of its overall size. I think the Toro wheel dingo is the machine to go with and someday soon someone will come with a Dengelman blade for it. The ATV's are fast but don't handle tight spots and have a very hard time breaking through the windrows at street corners

this model is just big and that's all...when the snow gets heavy and you need to go fast , a smaller30 to 36 simplicity , ariens ,honda or toro will do better. For quality and purpose you need to expect $2500 to $3500 on the tag....no matter where you buy it.

when that cub gets loaded with heavier snow its going to slip all over the place and you'll have to slow down ...so why get a snowblower like this? Stick to what you have but buy the odd new 32" or 36" with plenty of hp.

it sounds like you know this machine and I would say that I have bought plenty of machines that were not worth the money I paid for ... however we all have to live with our mistakes.
With regarsd to your dingo idea....if you plan on clearing sidewalks...use the blade for 2" to 6" of fresh snow and the bucket (keep it filled with snow and water for weight) for more depth...empty the bucket only at the end for clean up. Am using my MT52 that way but hope to put somebody on it because I'm tired of freezing my butt off (standing on the platform keeps you imobile).